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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403852">So... We're dating?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeGale/pseuds/LeeGale'>LeeGale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ad lunam, ut amica, ut mi stultus [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hehehe, M/M, Pining, kinda angst?, not much</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:35:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,176</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeGale/pseuds/LeeGale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after Mishima's sick day, Akira says something to Akechi that causes quite the stir...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amamiya Ren/Mishima Yuuki, Kurusu Akira/Mishima Yuuki, Mishima Yuuki/Persona 5 Protagonist, One-sided Mishima Yuuki/Akechi Goro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ad lunam, ut amica, ut mi stultus [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695079</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>So... We're dating?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next morning, Mishima woke up feeling pretty good - physically, at least. He still had a headache, but it wasn't as bad as the morning prior, and he had a sore throat, but that could be fixed with some hydration. So, physically, he was good. Mentally, though? Not so much. Even just waking up reminded him that Akira had a crush on Sakamoto, which made his heart hurt more than it had the right to... He forced himself to deal with it, though, as he got up and prepared for a long, lonely day at home. He had to stay for two days, even if he was feeling better, to reduce the chances of spreading whatever it was he'd caught, so he knew he'd be in for way too much time with just his thoughts for company...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Akira entered the kitchen, already in his school uniform, Mishima placed a coffee and a bowl of cereal on the table for him, stating, "I'm too asleep to make curry, so I hope that'll do."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira blinked in surprise before rolling his eyes and smiling fondly, speaking up with an affectionate tone, "You didn't need to make me anything let alone curry... But thanks for thinking of me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mishima forced his feelings into a box as he smiled back, sitting on the counter closest to the door and sipping from his tea. They were both quiet as Akira ate, and it was surprisingly peaceful... At least, they stayed that way until Mishima's phone rang. He grabbed it, answering the call without checking the caller's ID.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hello?" he greeted, taking another sip of his tea. Morgana jumping up onto the side with him distracted him for a split second as he waited for a reply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hello Mishima," came Akechi's voice, causing Mishima to tense. Akira was too busy eating to pay much attention, but Morgana noticed, meowing at him. He petted the cat to reassure both of them as he asked Akechi what he wanted, earning the reply, "I was just calling to ask if you'd like to have dinner tonight? I know a wonderful restaurant..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mishima felt himself grow even tenser, but Akira appearing next to him and taking his phone distracted him. He tried to argue, but Akira sending him a firm look made him shut up as the taller teen spoke to Akechi, "Akechi, I would prefer it if you stopped trying to ask my boyfriend out when he's clearly not into you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An embarrassing squark escaped Mishima at that, but Akira just smirked at him as he put Akechi on speaker. The detective sounded absolutely enraged as he seethed, "Don't lie to me, Akira. You and Mishima aren't dating. Just because you-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey, Yuuki, would you like to tell him too? Since he doesn't believe me?" Akira cut him off, smiling slightly at Mishima. The bluenette sent him a flustered glare before lying, hissing quietly but loud enough for Akechi to hear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Akira," he made his voice sound both embarrassed and shy as he continued to glare at Akira, "I told you I could handle him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira smiled slightly when he realised that Mishima was playing along, letting his tone become a little petulant as he spoke again, "You know I don't like sharing..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That made Mishima blush, but he fought it as he released a put-upon sigh and turned his focus to Akechi, "I... Uh... I'm sorry Akira decided to be such a jerk? I didn't mean to lead you on, we only very recently got together..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira hummed a note of agreement, sending Mishima an appraising look and a smile as he spoke up, "When Yuuki says recently, he means literally last night... But, you know, the feelings have been there for a lot longer..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah..." Mishima agreed, voice as soft and affectionate as he could make it, even as his mind screamed at him. It made no sense! Why was Akira pretending that they were dating? I mean, it made sense to get Akechi off of his back, but what about Sakamoto? The person Akira actually had feelings for? If he found out that they were supposedly dating -and let's be real, Akechi would tell everyone-, how would he feel? He may have had a crush on Kitagawa, but if Akira was known to be single, there was a chance his crush could be returned! But if Sakamoto thought he was dating Mishima (which, you know, was impossible! Mishima wasn't good enough!), he would never like Akira and Akira would end up hurt and that wasn't what Mishima wanted-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I... see..." Akechi's voice coming across the line brought Mishima back to the real world, "In that case, I wish you both well in your relationship, and hope that we can at least be friends, Mishima."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mishima didn't even want that, but he agreed, and not a minute later the call was ended. Once it was, Mishima frowned at Akira and asked, "Wh... Why would you tell him that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He was making you uncomfortable," Akira replied like it was obvious, shrugging, oblivious as to how Mishima's heart ached.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I... I can handle that! But now he's probably going to tell people, and if he does Sakamoto will catch wind of it and-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What does Ryuji have to do with this?" Akira cut Mishima off, something cool behind his tone. Mishima blinked in surprise before sending him an unimpressed look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, I don't know... Maybe him thinking we're dating would ruin your chances with him even more?" the bluenette couldn't fight the small amount of bitterness that managed to get into his tone. Not that Akira noticed, too busy frowning. He then had the audacity to ask what Mishima meant! The smaller teen sighed and rolled his eyes, hiding his hurt behind a nonchalant mask as he replied, "Anyone with eyes can see that you have a crush on him, Akira."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That made Akira blink in surprise before laughing slightly. Of course, Mishima not laughing with him made him sober up as he stated, "I don't have a crush on Ryuji!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The flat look Mishima sent him told him he wasn't believed, so he sighed and stepped closer to Mishima, resting a hand on his arm and smiling slightly, "I don't, Yuuki. He's just a friend..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mishima wanted to argue some more, because Akira didn't need to lie about that kinda thing to him, but there was something in the taller teen's eyes that made it seem like he was telling the truth... The bluenette sighed, nodding a muttering a quiet 'if you say so' under his breath before suggesting that Akira leave to catch his train. For a split-second, the taller teen seemed annoyed, but then he smiled and nodded, squeezing Mishima's arm and grabbing his bag, letting Morgana jump into it before leaving with a fond goodbye. As soon as Akira was gone, Mishima sighed, slumping and letting his head fall into his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Why would Akira do that? </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought, sighing again, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dammit, why does he have to give me hope? I know I don't stand a chance with him! Even if he doesn't like Sakamoto, he has a crush on someone! It could never be me... Although, he is pretty clingy towards me... And he did seem pretty upset when he thought I had a crush on Akechi... And he's never liked how Akechi flirts with me... And he did act pretty weird after I overheard him... He may have been worried that I'd heard him say he liked me... Yeah, right. As if. I'm letting myself hope too much. There's no way he likes me...</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, Mishima sighed again before sliding off of his counter, dropping his mug into the sink and carrying his phone into the living room. Turning on his laptop and clicking the mix that YouTube randomly makes just for him, he settled on his couch and got to work on the Phansite...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-=-=-=-=-=-=</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some time later, Mishima was roused from his Phansite daze by his phone pinging. Checking it after finishing with the comment he was deleting, he blushed bright red.</span>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <span>Futaba: Akechi texted the group chat a few of us are in to say you and Akira are dating! Since when?</span>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <span>At first, the only thing Mishima felt was embarrassment, but that was quickly washed away by panic. Oh god. What was he going to do? What could he do? If he told Futaba they weren't dating, there was a chance she could accidentally spill it to Akechi and ruin it, but he couldn't say they were in case Akira didn't want that! What could he do? What-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His doorbell ringing distracted him. The sound actually startled him so much he reached for the closest thing he could use as a weapon, which was his keys. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to relax enough to walk to the door, keeping his keys in his hand, just in case... Looking through the peephole confused the teen, but he opened the door and let his guest in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Akechi texted a group chat we're in and told the other's that we're dating," Akira stated, taking off his shoes and hanging up his coat, carrying his bag as he followed Mishima to the kitchen. The smaller teen sighed, telling Akira that Futaba had texted him as much as he grabbed two mugs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you want to drink?" he asked, nodding when Akira asked for whatever was the strongest coffee he had before setting up one cup in his coffee machine, popping in an espresso capsule. As that coffee started to make itself, he prepared some peppermint tea in the other mug. Once his drink was done, he perched on his usual counter and watched Akira, who had let Morgana out of his bag and was sat at the table. He must have come over straight after school... Sighing, Mishima spoke up, "What do you want to do about this?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira visibly hesitated before sighing too and replying, "I think we should pretend to date. At least for a while, until Akechi gets off of our backs..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mishima hated to admit it, but Akira was right. That was probably the best option... Sighing, he told Akira as much. The taller teen looked a little unhappy, though...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We don't need to if you feel uncomfortable," he stated, and Mishima blinked in surprise. To be honest? He wasn't completely pleased with the idea, although that was probably not due to whatever reason Akira thought... He sighed and smiled slightly as the coffee machine dinged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not uncomfortable with it, Akira. I'm just worried about how good we'd be at pulling it off..." it was only half a lie, really. He wasn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>uncomfortable</span>
  </em>
  <span>, not really. He was just worried about getting hurt... Although, it was literally the only way he'd have any idea what dating Akira would be like, so it wasn't completely bad... Smiling and moving off of his counter, he grabbed Akira's drink and added a little bit of milk and sugar then carried it to him, sitting on the chair to his right and speaking quietly, "Do you want to do it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Akira nodded, so Mishima smiled a little wider and continued, "We'll need a plan. So that we don't get caught out..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's what I was thinking," Akira muttered, taking a sip from his drink, "We need to discuss how we going to say we got together, boundaries, etc."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You told Akechi we got together last night, right? So we have that for when we 'got together', so now we need a how and to set up some boundaries..." Mishima stated, tapping his bottom lip as he considered his options. They could link to how ill he'd been maybe? Say he'd said something whilst ill? But what, exactly? And how would they get to that point? What-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We could say that I was jealous of Akechi -maybe say an interview of his came onto the TV or something- and, since you were ill, you spilled that you liked me?" Akira suggested, and Mishima took a moment to consider it. It was a good idea... He nodded, smiling when Akira grinned at him, before asking what boundaries they should have. That made Akira sober up as he paused to consider it, humming a thoughtful note before turning the question on Mishima, who blushed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I... Uh... Well, hugs, hand-holding and that kinda thing are okay, bu... but I'd not be comfortable with kissing. O... On the lips, at least. Ch... Cheek and head kisses should be fine, b... but I'm probably going to blush a lot. Be... Because I'm just like that..." he stuttered out, relaxing when Akira said that would work. Both teens shared an awkward look before bursting out into laughter, the tense atmosphere that had befallen them evaporating. Mishima sent Akira a small smile before telling him he was going to text Futaba, to say that Akechi had been telling the truth. Akira agreed, and Mishima left for his living room, feeling surprisingly light...</span>
</p>
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